Purple WiFi Secures $5m

Tablet surfing in coffee bar
Purple WiFi offers users free wi-fi in thousands of venues around the world

Purple WiFi, the UK-based wi-fi social login and location analytics platform, has secured $5m (£3.3m) in funding, with the investment led by Sir Terry Leahy, Bill Currie, Iain MacDonald and Bob Willett from the William Currie Group with participation from Juno Capital. Leary and telecoms and energy entrepreneur Ian Kelly have also joined the Purple WiFi board.

Purple WiFi offers users free access to a public wi-fi network through their existing social media accounts (including Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, Weibo and VKontakte), or by filling in a short form. The business hosting the service gets analytic insights into the profiles and movements of their customers, as well as a marketing platform to target these users with offers.

Purple WiFi is available in thousands of venues around the world, with strongholds in Europe, Asia-pac and the Americas. The company has established technology partnerships with Cisco, Cisco Meraki, BT, Telstra and Vodafone, plus others. The company also has distribution agreements with Ingram Micro and Westcon Comstor, along with a number of country-specific partners.

“Having been in the retail space for many years, I have seen how technology has and will continue to revolutionise the industry,” said Leahy. “Purple WiFi is a brilliant example of how additional value can be driven from an existing infrastructure. I’ve been incredibly impressed with what Gavin and the team have achieved to date.”